subscribe

Pages

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Loyal wrecky librarian Saima has informed me that this week is National Library Week. Now, when I was a kid we made weekly visits to our local library, and every week I came home with a teetering stack of books taller than I was, so libraries are near and dear to my heart. That little building was my literary nirvana - a kind of free candy shop, where the lollipops were spun poetry, and the chocolate bars were the stuff of legends, sci-fi, and fantasy.

So today, I'm dedicating these delicious book-inspired Sweets to Saima and all of her fellow librarians and library workers. Shush on, my friends. Shush on.

It's one of those books you won't be able to put down. (And for those that have read it, note the deadly nightlock berries on the cover. Talk about a great finishing touch!)

If you're a fellow Terry Pratchett fan, then you're going to love this final cake:

Made by Frances C.

These are all inspired by Pratchett's YA series beginning with The Wee Free Men. The 9-year-old heroine, Tiffany Aching, is a hedge witch aided by tiny blue men called the Nac Mac Feegles, who are always spoiling for a fight and almost always drunk. (Did I mention these books are funny?)

If you look closely, you'll see outlines of the Feegles on the tier below Tiffany's hat:

And they're also supporting the sheep field below:

Besides the main cake is a bottle of sheep liniment (Tiffany's family raises sheep), a block of cheese (which she's quite good at making) and two of the books she consults frequently...in the book. Heh. I love it when a baker nails the details this well! So cool.

Have a Sweet to nominate? Then send it to Sunday Sweets [at] Cake Wrecks [dot] com.

Loving the Narnia and Beatrix Potter cakes! The Alice in Wonderland cupcakes are amazingly well done, too! :)

I didn't visit the library as often as you did when I was a kid, but I was quite the bookworm too. I actually got in trouble once for reading a library book in class.That reminds me, have you ever seen any Beverly Cleary-inspired cakes? Those would be so cute (The Mouse and the Motorcycle comes to mind).

I too used a weekly foray to the Library to borrow an oversize load of books, Legends and Myths, history, Sci-fi and Poetry, we have a lot in common I bet :)I usewd to use my Mum and Dads membership tickets so i could borrow enough books to last me a week in the holidays(juniors were limmited to 4 at a time), and I love this weeks sweets ,FYI just finished the latest Tiffany Aching book 'I shall wear midnight' its REALLY good.

My 12 yr old daughter and I are Hunger Games fans. She more than I. She tweets out a count down text every day with the number of days until the movie comes out. She draws pictures of Peeta and Katniss. She wants a Hunger Games birthday. (hopefully a tad more civilized). Now I know she'll ask me to make this cake!

My mother was a library and my father was a bookstore. Thanks for the nod to libraries and books! And cakes and books are a perfect match -- I think it was Sir Francis Bacon who said something like "Some books were made to be tasted...some to be eaten...some to be digested." Great cakes today -- combining food for the body, food for the soul.

I just finished reading Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass last week so it was fun to see those cupcakes! Also, you guys become more and more awesome to me every post. I LOVE the Tiffany Aching series. And I want to eat a Wee Free Man now. Thanks for all the delicious eye candy. Keep up the good work!

I just wanted to let you know I was at my local library on Monday, & I was looking for another book, when I spotted your Cake Wrecks book on the shelf. It made me smile, & I said to myself "How cool is that!" Thanks for the double sweets weekend.

LOVE the description of your childhood library experience. Mine was much the same, and part of the reason I'm a librarian myself. I would like to add the following:

"So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone." — Roald Dahl

Eeee! I also missed a few other details on the Pratchett cake: the jelly bears on the middle tier, the cairn treasures trimming the bottom rim, and the design of the White Horse of Uffington on one of the white petit-fours in the back left. ("It ain't what a horse looks like; it's what a horse BE.")

However, I can't figure out the two gold things near the base of the snow/Mac Feegle frieze. Anyone?

(Fan cakes are cool enough even if they only do one thing - say, a good portrait of The Cat in the Hat. But I especially enjoy the complex ones with all the little details you can only find on the fourth or tenth look.)

I love the library! I too have fond memories of visiting the local library and coming home with a giant stack of books. That Terry Pratchett cake is adorable! And the Narnia cake made me go "Wow!" too. I've never read Hunger Games; that should go on my list of books to read. Thanks for the recommendation!

I have to say, I'm amused at the criticism The Hunger Games has produced, claiming it's too violent. For those who know about it, the concept of the story is a little too close to a Japanese book called Battle Royale: much more violent, and very much into the psychology.That being said, whoever wanted to be young so they could have the Beatrix Potter cake, doesn't it say 'Happy 40th' on it?

As other people have mentioned, I will echo that the blue "book" is actually a packet of Jolly Sailor Tobacco. I loved the Beatrix Potter cake too. I adored the stories when I was a girl. Thanks for the recommendation of The Hunger Games, I'm always on the lookout for another great YA book. If you haven't read him you should check out Charles Delint and his YA and Adult fantasy novels too.

For the feegle cake - the yellow bit on the left is a gummy bear, on the right, it looks like a Sou'wester hat, like the type worn by the sailor on the tobaco pouch ( the blue cake )What's in front is a butter pat ( you can just make out the flying witch stamp ) and at the back I think are the 'Soft Nellies'? the other cheese that Tiffany makes. You're right about the Feegle figurines though, they are the resin one, I have some myself. It's still an excellent excellent cake design - the details are great!

Most of these are classics that anyone would know, but for others, what is the "education" process for bakers? Some of the details these great bakers include show deep familiarity with the subject matter. Does the customer have to provide a ton of art & ideas, or what?

Wow. Just wow. When I saw the topic for the blog I was secretly hoping for Narnia and LOTR cakes, and boy did you deliver! That Narnia cake is AMAZING! I was slightly disappointed that there wasn't a LOTR cake here, then I went back and saw the post from Saturday. Boy did I squee! :-) Happy Library Week!

Am I the only person who doesn't like Hunger Games? I read the first book and hated it. I love every single one of those other books, but I can't stand Hunger Games. Love the cake though. Super cute! (Are the Harry cakes too overdone? D:)

I LOVE the Narnia one! Too cool! I love Narnia! It's my favorite book EVER!!!!! Did you know that one of the Narnian summer months is called Greenroof, or that the world of Narnia lasted 2,555 years before Aslan brought it to an end in the last battle?!?! Narnia even had a Queen named Swanwhite at one point! NARNIA RULES!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my word, when I saw the Narnia one I seriously screamed! I have loved that series since first grade! Last night I seriously dreamed about Narnia cakes! I'm debating printing out the picture for my wall! It's amazing! Narnia is only my favorite series ever, and now it finally has a Sweet! I'm jovial! Yay!!!!!

Lessee, I gots1) a new series. Been putting off Terry Prachett, and why? No more!2) Hunger Games magnificato. Whether you like the books or not, that is a well done cake.3) someone else mentioned the Edge Chronicles! Would make The.Coolest.Cake. Series. Or four. teen. :)4) A chance to pump my super favorite series, the Bloody Jack books by L.A. Meyer. The audiobooks are fantastic.5) Absolutely no compunction about what to DO with the things - who really cuts into these things? Really? I mean, come on, really?! Now I get to bookmark and visit and squee whenever I feel the need. Oh yes.

And on that note, the clock says three hours and an insanely boring meeting between now and my next library visit. :)

Niki: Re the sheep in the hole on the Pratchett cake, since the main hole in the ground in those books is the hidden home of the Nac Mac Feegles, I was guessing the sheep was most likely being stolen, but might have just stuck its head in to see what was happening.

I just *had* to make a Terry Pratchett shout-out. I've loved his books since 5th grade or so and "Wee Free Men" was the first book of his i read. I've never met anyone (other than my family) who's even heard of him! It warmed the cockles of my heart to both see a Terry Pratchett-inspired cake AND find out that there is someone out there who can appreciate it like I do. I tip my invisible pointy hat to you.

Search This Blog

Wreck the Halls

NEW! Pre-Order Today!

Buy the Book

Buy the NYT Bestseller

What's a Wreck?

What's a Wreck?

A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.

order

Where's the book?

We don’t have any copies of Cake Wrecks for sale here, autographed or otherwise. We decided the shipping and handling costs would be too high to make it worth your while. So instead, buy your copies locally or online and then order personalized bookplates: it’s cheaper, easier, and I think even looks a bit nicer.

Ordering Info

Payments must be made through Paypal, which accepts all major credit cards. Sorry, but that means no checks or MOs or barter-based chickens.

We ship everything first class USPS, and will do our best to have your package in the mail within 2 days of your order.